


A Flame's Dance

by Chrysalin



Series: TTT-verse One-Shots [8]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24726091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysalin/pseuds/Chrysalin
Summary: Before Sailor Mars, Rei needed to get away for a bit. She goes to a club and runs into a face she didn't expect to see. Later, she tells him about it.
Relationships: Hino Rei/Jadeite
Series: TTT-verse One-Shots [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787680
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	A Flame's Dance

**Author's Note:**

> I'm moving old works over from FF.net with some grammar/spelling clean-up.

Hino Rei knew evil. She had seen it from a young age, stalking those who would never realize it was there until it was too late. When she began to train as a priestess at her grandpa's shrine, she learned what she could do about it. Not at first, of course. It took years before her power was honed enough to use effectively, to combat evil and win. She sealed demons and laid protections, saving those who couldn't save themselves. She was a servant of the gods, and she was strong. Her youth didn't matter.

Still, even good girls had their bad times.

Rei was under a great deal of stress from everything she’d done, everything she’d seen. And she was apprehensive. The fire was warning her of something, but the only image it ever gave was of the face she’d known all her life, the face that had haunted her dreams for as long as she could remember, the face that floated through her mind whenever her discipline slipped.

So she snuck out. It wasn't hard when her grandfather slept like the dead. With makeup, a nice dress and a change of hairstyle, Rei was more than able to pass for twenty. The bouncer at the club she went to knew her, but he also knew she wouldn't touch the alcohol and could take care of herself. She was there to dance.

He waved her in and watched as she insinuated herself into the mob on the dance floor. Rei lost herself in the rhythm, not noticing her partners or anything else as she let loose and displayed the passion and free movement of her element.

Rei knew about Sailor Mars, even then. Or suspected it, though deep in her bones she was sure it was true. Despite her first transformation being months away, she knew it was coming as surely as she knew that fire burned – if you weren't her. For her, fire was as tame as a kitten and would never be a danger. And it held the truth. There was nothing dishonest in fire. It was destructive, yes, but it didn’t hide or trick. Fire simply was, fire just burned. Fire would consume anything foolish enough to cross its path. Rei was tired of knowing without being able to do anything, and that was what drove her to dance. It released the frustration she had no other ways to vent. It let her go on as if everything was normal.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a dangerous place like this, little warrior?"

She whipped around, reaching for one of her charms, and stopped cold. It was the face of her dreams. Short, tousled blond curls framed sculpted and faintly tanned features. Blue eyes seemed to laugh boyishly. Then she realized what he was. His corrupt air was like a fist to the gut. Even in all the years she had Seen him… She’d never thought he’d be like that. She’d never thought he’d be evil. And that was the warning her fire had been trying to give.

Rei went for a charm again, but he caught her wrist. "Not here, firebrand, unless you want some of these poor humans to be hurt."

"Who are you, and what are you doing to them?"

"Nothing… much. Just getting a little energy. They won't miss it."

"Who are you?" she snapped angrily.

"Settle down; it wouldn't do to draw attention. You're the little warrior girl, aren't you? The charm wielder. Not bad, but you have the potential for so much more."

"I'm not going to repeat myself again."

"My name is Jadeite. Yours?"

He had twisted her back into dancing, and she cooperated only because it was safer than letting him near any of the other women in the club, women who wouldn't know him for what he was and would be used to further his goals, whatever they were.

"None of your business. You know too much about me already."

His smile was handsome and sinister at the same time. "You have spirit. It's nice to see not everyone is a sheep."

"And you're the wolf?"

Jadeite bared his teeth mockingly. "Aren't all men?"

"Some more than others. Get out of here before you hurt someone."

He laughed. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What's in it for me?"

Rei knew better than to make bargains with demons, but she also understood the risk he posed to everyone in the room and beyond. "What would it take?"

He leaned in, so close that he could have kissed her. Her breath caught in her throat. He had to be at least a few years older than her meager fourteen, and he was the most handsome thing she’d ever seen.

"A promise," he whispered, lips a centimeter from hers. "That I'll be able to come for you when you're ready. That I’ll be able to do anything and everything I want."

"Why should I give myself up like that? You'll only go elsewhere to get what you're after. That's a lot of sacrifice from me for something that's no trouble at all for you."

"If you want, I could just take what I'm after now."

"You wouldn't dare." Her grip on his shoulder tightened. "Leave those people alone. They haven't done anything to you."

"It's your choice."

"I hate you."

Jadeite shrugged. "I'm waiting."

Rei's eyes closed. "Fine. I promise you can come back when I'm ready." Which would be never. There wouldn't be a point when she’d be prepared to deal with what he was. "And this place, these people. You'll leave them alone."

"Agreed."

“I’ll make one more promise – I'll destroy you before I let you stay this way."

"You can try," he laughed.

And he did kiss her. In that moment, she saw his beautiful blue eyes go blank as he died on a battlefield. A vision. Past or future, she didn't yet know.

He vanished before she could think of anything else.

88888888

"Rei? …Rei? Are you in there?"

"What? Oh! Jomei."

"Where’d your mind go? You've been staring at that spot for ten minutes."

"Spot?" Rei repeated, blinking. "Was I?"

"Yeah. You okay? Your devoted Yuuichiro is going to be back soon, so I figured you wouldn't want him to see you that way."

"What does he have to do with anything?" she demanded.

He lifted one perfect golden brow and let out a low whistle. "Touchy. Is something wrong? You're on edge all of a sudden."

"Just… thinking of a promise I kept to someone important."

"Who?"

Rei flicked a few strands of her raven-colored hair out of her face and studied him. His blond curls and bright blue eyes, the sculpted features. He didn't look like he'd changed at all.

"Do you know Club Muse?"

"Vaguely. It's in the area, right?"

She nodded. "Ever been there?"

"No… Why? Want to go?"

"I've already gone, more than once. You have too."

Jomei frowned. "Rei, I'd never even heard of the place till shortly after I moved here. What's going on?"

"It's nothing."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Was I drunk or something? Did I offend you? I know I can get pretty weird when I've been drinking. If I upset you, I'm sorry."

"It's not that."

Jomei caught on a moment later and blanched, glancing at the temple steps to make sure Yuuichiro and her grandfather weren't back yet. "You mean… then? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, you didn't hurt me. It's not that big a deal."

"It must've been if you're thinking about it more than a year later. What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I guess not. I thought I hadn't forgotten anything, but apparently I was wrong. Happens to the best of us." He managed a smile, but it seemed forced. "Even me, and I'm the best of all." He sighed. "So what did I do?"

She headed over to a tree and sat down, waiting till he joined her and went through his little ritual of forcing her to sit in his lap. He tensed when she didn't argue like she normally did.

"Rei, tell me I didn't do anything horrible."

The priestess leaned back against him. "It was a few months before I became Mars. With a little work I could pass for an adult, and I wanted to dance. I needed to get away for a while, so I snuck out and went to Muse."

"And I was there."

She nodded. "It was a shock. I already told you I knew you before we ever actually crossed paths, so I recognized you right off the bat. That was the first time I realized what you were. Your aura was… frightening. The strongest evil I'd seen. You seemed to know me."

"How?"

"I'm not sure, but you called me little warrior. I don't think you meant Mars. I’d been doing some minor spells, so I assume that's what it was. I'm not sure how you knew about it.

"I ordered you away, told you not to hurt the people there. You said maybe, but what was in it for you. I didn't want to bargain, but I couldn't fight you and there was no way I was going to let you hurt anyone when there was something I could do about it."

"What did I ask for?"

"It's not important. I agreed, but I followed it up with one more thing. I swore I would destroy you. You kissed me and left. The next time I saw you… I killed you. I kept my word."

"I'm glad you did."

She shifted to face him. "We never discuss our past. Not really, except to acknowledge it exists. That's the first time you've said anything about it."

"There's not a lot to say. You know what I was and what I did. Since you don’t bring it up, I don't either. The past can stay where it is. I won't worry about it like the others do."

"Happy-go-lucky."

"Does it matter?"

"No, I guess not. We should finish our chores. Grandpa will be back soon."

He nodded and let her up before leading the way back to the shrine proper. She hung back a little, watching as he did.

"Guess I managed to keep both promises."


End file.
